In December 2015, followers of the popular Facebook page Humans of New York were shaken by the
story of Aya, a 20-year-old woman who saw firsthand the horrors of both the Iraq and Syrian wars.
Aya witnessed her friends'
legs blown off by bombs, saw men
killing each other in the streets, and has been targeted with threats sent to her family, like an
envelope filled with bullets. Her mother is
sick and her father has disappeared. Now living in Turkey, Aya is the victim of frequent
verbal abuse due to her refugee status.
And topping it all off: the U.S. has just denied her resettlement application. A legal team is working on an appeal, but
Aya and families like hers don't deserve to be rejected for resettlement based on the whims of hardened and cruel bureaucracies. Politicians and others opposed to taking in refugees note that they need significant help with housing, food, transportation and education when they get here, and the U.S. can't foot the bill.
But a private sponsorship program could fix all of this.Canada is the only country where private sponsorship of refugees is legal. Private sponsorships in Canada have resettled more than
200,000 refugees since 1979. Families, individuals, charities, organizations and companies there can raise money and sign on to sponsor refugees, commiting to help them for a year, or until they become self-sufficient.
2015 is on pace to have a record-breaking number of refugees: asylum applications around the world have
increased by 78% since the first half of 2014.
If the government won't help refugees, why prevent people from doing so on their own?
Please sign this petition to urge your U.S. Congressional representative to legalize private sponsorship of refugees and create a program similar to Canada's!
*Your signature will automatically trigger an email to your representative.The world is in the midst of a refugee crisis. 2015 is on pace to have a record-breaking number of refugees, with asylum applications around the world increasing by 78% since the first half of 2014. As bombs blow apart homes and misplaced persons travel long, treacherous journeys to find a peaceful place to sleep and food to eat, the U.S. has responded dismally, agreeing only to take in a measly 100,000 refugees by 2017, a tiny fraction of the millions displaced.
Canada is the only country that allows individuals, families, charities, organizations and companies to sign on to privately sponsor refugees until they are self-sufficient. It's no secret that refugees need significant financial and personal support when they get here. Why not let the American people volunteer to ease the burden?
I urge you to introduce a bill to lift the ban on private refugee sponsorship in the U.S. and to create a program like Canada's, which has helped to resettle over 200,000 refugees since the program was created in 1979. Thank you for your consideration.
